Undergarment



March 10, 1970 w. A. STEINMETZ UNDERGARMENT Filed Feb. 21, 1968 FIG. '2

Emu-m WILLIAM A. STEINMETZ United States Patent 3,499,442 UNDERGARMENT William A. Steinmetz, 2565 Telegraph Road, St. Louis, Mo. 63125 Filed Feb. 21, 1968, Ser. No. 707,190 Int. Cl. A61f 5/40; A41b 9/02; A41c N00 US. Cl. 128-159 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mans supporter-brief undergarment that includes an elastic U-shaped pouch strapattached to an elastic waistband, and an elastic panel attached to and located in-.

side the U-shaped strap to provide a shaped, supporting pouch at the front of the garment. A pair of elastic leg straps are attached to the U-shaped strap substantially at the strap bight, and are attached to opposite sides of the U-shaped strap to provide leg openings. A cloth covering is attached to and extends between the waistband, pouch strap and leg straps.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to an undergarment, and more particularly to a mans undergarment having the combined quality and characteristics of a brief and an athletic supporter.

An athletic supporter has been and is currently widely used. This type of supporter consists of elastic straps holding a knitted elastic pouch. The pouch has no body and consequently does not maintain a predetermined shape. Moreover, and importantly, the athletic supporter does not have any covering cloth panels except for the pouch, and obviously does not take the place of a brief, shorts, trunks or the like. The athletic supporter is usually worn by those engaged in sports for protective purposes, and is not usually worn by man in his everyday activities or pursuits. If one would wear such athletic porter during normal activities, an additional undergarment such as shorts would also be worn to provide coverage for the buttocks and adjoining body portions.

It will be understood also that the heretofore conventional briefs, or undergarments of this general type, do not provide the support of the kind attributed to an athletic supporter. These undergarments are made of cloth that sag, pinch, rub or ride up, and have an inside fly at the front that reduces or precludes any supportive characteristics that might otherwise exist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present undergarment is a brief providing cloth for protection and modest covering of the wearers body, and especially of the buttocks, hips and adjoining body portions, at least equal to that afforded by the heretofore conventional brief, and providing also a built-in support of the kind previously attained only by the heretofore conventional athletic supporter.

The garment construction eliminates the prior provision of an inside fly in a brief which consists of an opening in the pouch. Instead, the garment provides an outside fly that enables ready access to the pouch interior without adversely affecting the supportive quality of the brief, the outside fly constituting that portion of an elastic pouch strap partially defining both the pouch and adjacent leg openings.

Consequently, the undergarment can be worn by men at all times as during work, leisure or periods of increased physical activity, and the garment will provide the modest covering and the protection of a brief and will provide the helpful and protective support of an ice athletic supporter. The garment is lightweight, flexible and sung fitting; i.e., a comfortable all-purpose undergarment.

The undergarment includes an elastic, substantially U-shaped pouch strap attached to the front of the waistband, and a pair of elastic leg straps, each leg strap having one end attached to the pouch strap bight and having the other end attached to one side of the pouch strap. A panel of an elastic stretch-textured material, of the type sold on the market under the mark, Spandex, is attached to the inside of the pouch strap to provide a shaped, supporting pouch. A fabric, such as cotton cloth, is attached to and extends between the waistband, pouch strap and leg straps to provide coverage for the buttocks, hips and adjoining body portions.

The ends of the leg straps are attached to the sides of the pouch strap so that a portion of the pouch strap partially provides both the margin of the pouch and the margin of the associated leg opening in a region where the pouch strap portion can be readily displaced by the wearer for access to the pouch interior.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the undergarment; FIG. 2 is a rearview thereof, and FIG. 3 is a side view thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now by characters of reference to the drawing, and first to FIG. 1, the garment includes a continuous, endless elastic waistband 10 adapted to fit around the waist of the wearer. An elastic, substantially U-shaped pouch strap generally indicated by 11 has its ends 12 and 13 attached to the waistband 10. The pouch strap ends 12 and 13 are spaced from each other, and the pouch strap 11 depends from the waistband 10 at the front of the garment. The pouch strap 11 includes a bight 14 adapted to be located at the crotch of the wearer.

A panel 15 of elastic stretch-textured material is attached to and located within the pouch strap 11, and is attached to that portion of the waistband 10 intermediate the strap ends 12 and 13. The U-shaped pouch strap 11 and the panel 15 provides a shaped, supporting pouch 16. The panel 15 is of a material that is elastic in all directions and has sufficient body to maintain the predetermined pouch configuration. This material is preferably synthetic with interstices, as for example, the material sold under the trademark Spandex.

A pair of elastic leg straps 17 and 1-8 are provided. The leg strap 17 has one end 19 attached to the pouch strap bight 14 and the other end 20 attached to one side of the pouch strap 11. The other leg strap 18 has one end 21 attached to the pouch strap bight 14 and the other end 22 attached to the opposite side of the pouch strap 11. The leg straps 17 and 18 are adapted to at least partially encircle the legs of the wearer.

For reasons which will later appear, the ends 20 and 22 of the elastic leg straps 17 and 18 respectively are attached to opposite sides of the pouch strap 11 nearer to the waistband 10 than to the strap bight 14, and specifically are attached to the strap ends 12 and 13 adjacent to the waistband 10. With this construction, a portion 23 of the pouch strap 11 partially defines both the margin of the pouch 16 and the adjacent leg opening. It is this construction that provides the outside fly.

A fabric material 24, such as cotton cloth, is attached to and extends between the waistband 10, the leg straps 17 and 18, and the ends 12 and 13 of the pouch strap 11 located between the waistband 10 and the leg strap ends 20 and 22. The fabric material 24 provides a coverage 3 for the buttocks, hips and adjoining body portions of the wearer.

It will be understood that the strap portions 23 of the pouch strap 11 can be readily displaced to gain access to the interior of pouch 16. Each strap portion 23 constitutes an outside fly. With this garment construction, the supportive characteristics of the garment are not adversely afiected such as would be the case if an inside fly or opening were provided in the pouch panel 15.

The undergarment is a brief that provides protection and modest covering for the wearers body, and also incorporates an elastic strap arrangement that provides a built-in supporter. The undergarment does not have an inside fly of the type found in the heretofore conventional brief. The structural arrangement of the elastic straps and the cooperative relative placement of the cloth covering provides a brief having an outside fly that enables access to the pouch interior without adversely affecting either the supportive or protective coverage characteristics of the garment.

Although the invention has been described by making detailed reference to a preferred embodiment, such detail is to be understood in an instructive, rather than in any restrictive sense, many variants being possible within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mans supporter-brief undergarment, comprising:

(a) an elastic stretchable waistband,

(b) a substantially U-shaped elastic pouch strap including ends attached in spaced relation to the waistband at the front of the garment,

(c) a panel of elastic stretch-textured material attached to and located inside the pouch strap, and attached to the waistband between the strap ends, the panel providing a shaped, supporting pouch,

(d) a pair of elastic leg straps, each elastic leg strap having a first end attached to substantially the bight of the pouch strap, and having the second end attached to one side of the pouch strap, spaced from the first end of the leg strap, the leg straps and associated pouch strap providing openings adapted to accommodate the legs of the wearer, and

(e) a fabric material attached to and extending between the elastic waistband, elastic pouch strap and elastic leg straps, the fabric material being adapted to provide coverage for the buttocks, hips and adjoining body portions of the wearer.

2. A mans supporter-brief undergarment as defined in claim 1, in which:

(f) the said first ends of the elastic leg straps are attached to substantially the bight of the elastic pouch strap, and said second ends of the elastic leg straps are attached to opposite sides of the elastic pouch strap in spaced relation to said first ends so that opposite 'side strap portions of the pouch strap provide margins of both the shaped, supporting pouch, and the leg openings, the side strap portions being readily displaceable for access to the pouch interior.

3. A mans supporter-brief undergarment as defined in claim 2, in which:

(g) the said first ends of the elastic leg straps are attached to substantially the center of the bight of the elastic pouch strap,

4. A mans supporter-brief undergarment as defined above in claim 3, in which:

(h) the said second ends of the elastic leg straps are attached to the opposite sides of the elastic pouch strap closer to the waistband than to the bight center to provide side strap portions of a length to enable convenient access to the pouch interior.

5. A mans supporter-brief undergarment as defined in claim 3, in which:

(h) the said second ends of the elastic leg straps are attached to the elastic pouch strap adjacent the waistband.

6. A mans supporter-brief undergarment as defined in claim 2, in which:

(g) the elastic stretch-textured material of the pouch panel is of a type stretchable in all directions and is constructed of synthetic material with interstices.

7. A mans supporter-brief undergarment as defined in claim 6, in which:

(h) the pouch panel has sufficient body to maintain a predetermined pouch shape.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,250,506 7/1941 Snyder 128-159 2,872,685 2/1959 Denbo l28l59 3,235,883 2/1966 Salamon' 128-525 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner JOHN B. MITCHELL, Assistant Examiner U.S. c1. X.R.

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